History of the Christian Church

612 Pages·2010·4.4 MB·English

by  Philip Scaff

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HISTORY

OF

THE CHRISTIAN
CHURCH

By

PHILIP SCHAFF, D.D., LLD.
1819 - 1893
History of the Christian Church - Rev Philip Schaff

HISTORY

OF

THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH

By

PHILIP SCHAFF, D.D., LLD.

Christianus sum: Christiani nihil a me alienus puto.

VOLUMES I - VIII
FIRST PUBLISHED IN TWO VOLUMES IN 1858

NEW YORK
CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS

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History of the Christian Church - Rev Philip Schaff

HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN
CHURCH

By

PHILIP SCHAFF
PROFESSOR OF CHURCH HISTORY
IN THE UNION THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
NEW YORK

Schaff, Philip, History of the Christian Church, (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.) 1997.
This material has been carefully compared, corrected¸ and emended (according to the 1910 edition of
Charles Scribner's Sons) by The Electronic
Bible Society, Dallas, TX, 1998.

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History of the Christian Church - Rev Philip Schaff

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History of the Christian Church - Rev Philip Schaff

VOLUME I

Apostolic Christianity, . . 1-100
A D

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PREFACE TO THE REVISED EDITION

As I appear before the public with a new edition of my Church History, I feel more
than ever the difficulty and responsibility of a task which is well worthy to occupy the
whole time and strength of a long life, and which carries in it its own rich reward. The
true historian of Christianity is yet to come. But short as I have fallen of my own ideal, I
have done my best, and shall rejoice if my efforts stimulate others to better and more
enduring work.
History should be written from the original sources of friend and foe, in the spirit of
truth and love, "sine ira et studio," "with malice towards none, and charity for all," in
clear, fresh, vigorous style, under the guidance of the twin parables of the mustard seed
and leaven, as a book of life for instruction, correction, encouragement, as the best
exposition and vindication of Christianity. The great and good Neander, "the father of
Church History"—first an Israelite without guile hoping for the Messiah, then a Platonist
longing for the realization of his ideal of righteousness, last a Christian in head and
heart—made such a history his life-work, but before reaching the Reformation he was
interrupted by sickness, and said to his faithful sister: "Hannchen, I am weary; let us go
home; good night!" And thus he fell gently asleep, like a child, to awake in the land
where all problems of history are solved.
When, after a long interruption caused by a change of professional duties and literary
labors, I returned to the favorite studies of my youth, I felt the necessity, before
continuing the History to more recent times, of subjecting the first volume to a thorough
revision, in order to bring it up to the present state of investigation. We live in a restless
and stirring age of discovery, criticism, and reconstruction. During the thirty years which
have elapsed since the publication of my separate "History of the Apostolic Church,"
there has been an incessant activity in this field, not only in Germany, the great
workshopof critical research, but in all other Protestant countries. Almost every inch of
ground has been disputed and defended with a degree of learning, acumen, and skill such
as were never spent before on the solution of historical problems.
In this process of reconstruction the first volume has been more than doubled in size
and grown into two volumes. The first embraces Apostolic, the second post-Apostolic or
ante-Nicene Christianity. The first volume is larger than my separate "History of the
Apostolic Church," but differs from it in that it is chiefly devoted to the theology and
literature, the other to the mission work and spiritual life of that period. I have studiously
avoided repetition and seldom looked into the older book. On two points I have changed
my opinion—the second Roman captivity of Paul (which I am disposed to admit in the
interest of the Pastoral Epistles), and the date of the Apocalypse (which I now assign,
with the majority of modern critics, to the year 68 or 69 instead of 95, as before).1

1 My "History of the Apostolic Church" (which bears a relation to my "History of the
Christian Church," similar to that which Neander’s "History of the Planting and Training
of the Christian Church by the Apostles" bears to his "General History of the Christian
Religion and Church") appeared in German at Mercersburg, Pa., 1851, then in a revised
edition, Leipzig, 1854, in an English translation by the late Dr. Yeomans, New York,
1853, at Edinburg, 1854 (in 2 vols.), and several times since without change. Should
there be a demand for a new edition, I intend to make a number of improvements, which
are ready in manuscript, especially in the General Introduction, which covers 134 pages.

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I express my deep obligation to my friend, Dr. Ezra Abbot, a scholar of rare learning
and microscopic accuracy, for his kind and valuable assistance in reading the proof and
suggesting improvements.
The second volume, likewise thoroughly revised and partly rewritten, is in the hands
of the printer; the third requires a few changes. Two new volumes, one on the History of
Mediaeval Christianity, and one on the Reformation (to the Westphalian Treaty and the
Westminster Assembly, 1648), are in an advanced stage of preparation.
May the work in this remodelled shape find as kind and indulgent readers as when it
first appeared. My highest ambition in this sceptical age is to strengthen the immovable
historical foundations of Christianity and its victory over the world.
PHILIP SCHAFF
UNION THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, New York,
October,1882

FROM THE PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION

———————————

Encouraged by the favorable reception of my "History of the Apostolic Church," I
now offer to the public a History of the Primitive Church from the birth of Christ to the
reign of Constantine, as an independent and complete work in itself, and at the same time
as the first volume of a general history of Christianity, which I hope, with the help of
God, to bring down to the present age.
The church of the first three centuries, or the ante-Nicene age, possesses a peculiar
interest for Christians of all denominations, and has often been separately treated, by
Eusebius, Mosheim, Milman, Kaye, Baur, Hagenbach, and other distinguished historians.
It is the daughter of Apostolic Christianity, which itself constitutes the first and by far the
most important chapter in its history, and the common mother of Catholicism and
Protestantism, though materially differing from both. It presents a state of primitive
simplicity and purity unsullied by contact with the secular power, but with this also, the
fundamental forms of heresy and corruption, which reappear from time to time under new
names and aspects, but must serve, in the overruling providence of God, to promote the
cause of truth and righteousness. It is the heroic age of the church, and unfolds before us
the sublime spectacle of our holy religion in intellectual and moral conflict with the
combined superstition, policy, and wisdom of ancient Judaism and Paganism; yet
growing in persecution, conquering in death, and amidst the severest trials giving birth to
principles and institutions which, in more matured form, still control the greater part of
Christendom.
Without the least disposition to detract from the merits of my numerous predecessors,
to several of whom I feel deeply indebted, I have reason to hope that this new attempt at a
historical reproduction of ancient Christianity will meet a want in our theological
literature and commend itself, both by its spirit and method, and by presenting with the
author’s own labors the results of the latest German and English research, to therespectful

The first volume of my Church History (from A. D. 1 to 311) was first published in New
York, 1858, (and in German at Leipzig, 1867); but when I began the revision, I withdrew
it from sale. The Apostolic age there occupies only 140, the whole volume 535 pages.

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attention of the American student. Having no sectarian ends to serve, I have confined
myself to the duty of a witness—to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the
truth; always remembering, however, that history has a soul as well as a body, and that
the ruling ideas and general principles must be represented no less than the outward facts
and dates. A church history without the life of Christ glowing through its pages could
give us at best only the picture of a temple stately and imposing from without, but vacant
and dreary within, a mummy in praying posture perhaps and covered with trophies, but
withered and unclean: such a history is not worth the trouble of writing or reading. Let
the dead bury their dead; we prefer to live among the living, and to record the immortal
thoughts and deeds of Christ in and through his people, rather than dwell upon the outer
hulls, the trifling accidents and temporary scaffolding of history, or give too much
prominence to Satan and his infernal tribe, whose works Christ came to destroy.
The account of the apostolic period, which forms the divine-human basis of the whole
structure of history, or the ever-living fountain of the unbroken stream of the church, is
here necessarily short and not intended to supersede my larger work, although it presents
more than a mere summary of it, and views the subject in part under new aspects. For the
history of the second period, which constitutes the body of this volume, large use has
been made of the new sources of information recently brought to light, such as the Syriac
and Armenian Ignatius, and especially the Philosophoumena of Hippolytus. The bold and
searching criticism of modern German historians as applied to the apostolic and post-
apostolic literature, though often arbitrary and untenable in its results, has nevertheless
done good service by removing old prejudices, placing many things in a new light, and
conducing to a comprehensive and organic view of the living process and gradual growth
of ancient Christianity in its distinctive character, both in its unity with, and difference
from, the preceding age of the apostles and the succeeding systems of Catholicism and
Protestantism.
And now I commit this work to the great Head of the church with the prayer that,
under his blessing, it may aid in promoting a correct knowledge of his heavenly kingdom
on earth, and in setting forth its history as a book if life, a storehouse of wisdom and
piety, and surest test of his own promise to his people: "Lo, I am with you alway, even
unto the end of the world."
P. S.
THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, Mercersburg, Pennsylvania,
November, 8, 1858

PREFACE TO THIRD REVISION

———————————

The continued demand for my Church History lays upon me the grateful duty of
keeping it abreast of the times. I have, therefore, submitted this and the other volumes
(especially the second) to another revision and brought the literature down to the latest
date, as the reader will see by glancing at pages 2, 35, 45, 51–53, 193, 411, 484, 569, 570,
etc. The changes have been effected by omissions and condensations, without enlarging
the size. The second volume is now passing through the fifth edition, and the other

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History of the Christian Church - Rev Philip Schaff

volumes will follow rapidly.
This is my last revision. If any further improvements should be necessary during my
lifetime, I shall add them in a separate appendix.
I feel under great obligation to the reading public which enables me to perfect my
work. The interest in Church History is steadily increasing in our theological schools and
among the rising generation of scholars, and promises good results for the advancement
of our common Christianity.
THE AUTHOR
NEW YORK, JANUARY, 1890.

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History of the Christian Church - Rev Philip Schaff

CONTENTS

———————————

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

§ 1. Nature of Church History.
§ 2. Branches of Church History.
§ 3. Sources of Church History.
§ 4. Periods of Church History.
§ 5. Uses of Church History.
§ 6. Duty of the Historian.
§ 7. Literature of Church History.

———————————

FIRST PERIOD
APOSTLIC CHRISTIANITY
A.D. 1–100.

CHAPTER I.
PREPARATION FOR CHRISTIANITY.

§8. Central Position of Christ in the History of the World.
§ 9. Judaism.
§ 10. The Law, and the Prophecy.
§ 11. Heathenism.
§ 12. Grecian Literature, and the Roman Empire.
§ 13. Judaism and Heathenism in Contact.

CHAPTER II.
JESUS CHRIST.

§ 14. Sources and Literature.
§ 15. The Founder of Christianity.
§ 16. Chronology of the Life of Christ.
§ 17. The Land and the People.
§ 18. Apocryphal Tradition.
§ 19. The Resurrection of Christ.

CHAPTER III.
THE APOSTOLIC AGE.

§ 20. Sources and Literature of the Apostolic Age.
§ 21. General Character of the Apostolic Age.

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